An adjustable frame in the form of a cropping device (a.k.a. xe2x80x9ccropperxe2x80x9d) is frequently used in the interrelated fields of advertising, photography and graphic design. Croppers for demarcating the desired portion of an image (i.e. the xe2x80x9ccropxe2x80x9d) are well known in the art. It is worthwhile to carefully consider exactly what xe2x80x9ccroppingxe2x80x9d is meant to accomplish, and how it may be done. Basically, xe2x80x9ccroppingxe2x80x9d is done to extract from an image, e.g. a photo, a desired portion of that image. The process itself is referred to as the xe2x80x9ccroppingxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cframingxe2x80x9d of the image, and the desired portion so identified to be extracted is known as the xe2x80x9ccropxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cframexe2x80x9d. Cropping may be accomplished in a series of steps. Generally, these are:
(1) Displaying the entire image to be cropped (xe2x80x9cDisplayingxe2x80x9d),
(2) Selecting the desired portion (xe2x80x9cSelectionxe2x80x9d) of the image (xe2x80x9cSelectingxe2x80x9d the xe2x80x9cSelectionxe2x80x9d),
(3) Indicating on the image itself, the Selection (xe2x80x9cIndicatingxe2x80x9d).
Hereinafter, the applicant will refer to the steps of Displaying, Selecting, and Indicating. It is important to understand each step, as well as the fact that it is the Indicated Selection that is the xe2x80x9ccropxe2x80x9d. In other words, the process of cropping is not completed until the Selection has been Indicated.
Consider the steps of cropping in turn:
Firstly, Displaying. Displaying may be accomplished in any number of ways, such as by laying the image on a work surface such as a table.
Secondly, Selecting. Selecting the desired portion of the image is usually accomplished by using some sort of cropping device, or xe2x80x9ccropperxe2x80x9d. Generally, such croppers consist of one or more relatively movable xe2x80x9ccropping membersxe2x80x9d, e.g. straight edges, often provided in right-angle portions which may be brought together to form a quadrilateral polygon, most often a rectangle, enclosing the desired portion of the image area (Selection).
Thirdly, and finally, Indicating. Indicating the Selection on the photo itself is the culmination of the cropping process. Most often this is done by marking on the photo with a writing instrument drawn alongside the cropping members, using the cropping members as a guide by which to mark the lines.
Obviously, the cropping members must be freely movable, both relative to each other and to the image, to facilitate Selecting. Yet although they must be freely movable to permit selection, the cropping members must also be capable of being fixedly secured once they have been moved to the position where they may Indicate the Selection. Moreover, since most photographs are rectangular, it is desirable that the two right-angle members be positionable in proper parallelism with each other. (While the image being cropped is herein referred to as a xe2x80x98photoxe2x80x99, it is understood that the image may comprise text, photos, graphics, cloth, or almost any type of representation expressed it a two-dimensional medium.)
Practitioners in the foregoing fields sometimes use a pair of crossed xe2x80x9cLxe2x80x9d shaped members, the arms of which are orthogonally positioned. These members are typically made of cardboard, or paper, in their simplest form, or of plastic or another metal in a more complex form.
There are several problems experienced with these arrangements of the prior art. These include:
First, difficulty in positioning, quickly and without mechanisms, cropping members so as to readily obtain croppings of various sizes with precise 90xc2x0 angles.
Second, difficulty in having a simple means for holding the cropping members, once moved into a desired cropping position, in fixed or secured position (relative to each other and to the image being cropped.
Thirdly, difficulty in Indicating the Selection, inasmuch as commonly employed means, e.g. writing on, marking, or cutting the image have disadvantages. If the photo is marked on, line width tolerances become an issue; parallax errors (discussed elsewhere herein) may also become an issue, not to mention the fact that the photo itself is defaced. If the photo is cut, additional prints must often be made.
Fourth, the prior art does not satisfactorily allow the substantially simultaneous accomplishment of Indicating and Marking by which the photo is not defaced and which is as permanent as need be, e.g. which may be easily removed when removal is desired.
Fifth, cropping members of non-trivial thickness (e.g. height with respect to the plane of the photo) when used, necessarily form an overlying relationship with each other such that one cropping member is higher than the other, and in fact is not laying substantially flat on the photo, but is some distance above. Thus, using the overlying member as a guide for a pen or pencil, with which to draw a line, introduces a source of error. This is a source of error discussed in many other references, e.g. in Matthews U.S. Pat. No. 3,774,495, which was discussed in McGinnis U.S. Pat. No. 5,309,642. Both Matthews and McGinnis are hereby incorporated by reference. Matthews discloses a sheet material cutting device and cutting block therefor which again is in combination with a cutting board. Two perpendicular scales are provided, and one of the scales is provided with a raised portion to clear the other scale, which may lead to parallax errors in measurement. (As will be discussed elsewhere herein.) It should thus be further appreciated that the method and apparatus according to the current invention may eliminate the parallax error that is often, if not always, now associated with Indicating.
Prior art attempts at establishing and maintaining a mutually parallel and/or orthogonal relationship between cropping members have largely been mechanical in nature. Thus, the method and apparatus of the present invention eliminates the need for mechanical apparatus.
One provision of the invention is a cropping device comprising two separate L-shaped cropping members in which corresponding arms of the separate xe2x80x9cLxe2x80x9d shaped members are positionable in mutually orthogonal relationship without the need for additional tools or hardware.
Yet another provision of the invention is indicia displayed on the members, which cooperates to provide convenient scaling of copy, photographs and design graphics as a means to maintain and verify parallelism and orthogonality.
Still another provision of the invention is a cropping device that is simple in construction and thereby conducive to economical mass-manufacture, thus permitting its ready availability, preferably in a form which may be dispensed in bulk, e.g. as a pad of paper or box of facial tissues.
The problems associated with the prior art may be substantially overcome by the present invention.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for cropping photographs.
A principal object of the invention is the provision of a cropping device that comprises a pair of xe2x80x9cLxe2x80x9d shaped.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive, disposable cropping method and apparatus that may be so inexpensively mass-produced that large quantities may be kept on hand, and the product may be thought of as disposable.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide apparatus of a thinness and form factor so as to avoid parallax error.
It is a further object of the present invention to have a low adhesion (fixing means) so as to permit the easy (1) removing, (2) re-positioning, and (3) re-adhering.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a cropping device which may be made small, vanishingly thin, and on a scale permitting its use with contact sheets, in which the original image may be small, as when compared with its enlargement.
Yet another object of the invention is to offer a solution to a problem to which there is no known satisfactory solution. That problem is that of the error introduced when a writing stylus, e.g. a pen, pencil, or marker, was used to Indicate the Selection by drawing the stylus against a cropping member, particularly, but not always, the overlying member. Note that the errors introduced includes at least both a type of parallax error, as discussed above, as well as a line width error associated with the thickness of the Indicating line drawnxe2x80x94since, however thin that line may be, it still is of non-zero thickness, and has both inside and outside dimensions with respect to the center of the photo. By effectively eliminating the step of Indicatingxe2x80x94in a way which may be thought of at times as combining it with Selectingxe2x80x94the method and apparatus according to the present invention solves the aforementioned problem and problems, among others.